"Go faster, Adrian!" I ordered the distraught male to accelerate the car faster.
The humanoids run very fast, they're starting to catch up. Kallen shot the humanoid's head, it seems that the head is the core of their programming. It's like shooting zombies on the head in this game I always played. However, the difference lies in the thickness of the flesh. Zombies are walking rotten meat, they're still somewhat squishy.
On the other hand, these humanoids have thick iron plates. You need to penetrate their heads with several shots, wasting our bullets to destroy their cores. I looked at Kallen and shook the young boy's shoulder.
"Kallen! Don't we have a walkie talkie to contact each other!? We should warn Jean!" I yelled in frustration.
"Each team only gets one walkie talkie!" Kallen replied.
"Tch!" I clicked my tongue in dismay.
We need to take down these humanoids without attracting too much attention, to be honest, and then we'll get back to the gas station to find Jean. Kallen already shot one of them, five left. "We're wasting our bullets here! We need a better strategy to obliterate them without attracting too much attention" I scoffed.
Adrian directed us further from the city center. The humanoids started to take their shot at us, and the gas cans are in danger.
"Crap! Adrian! Go zig-zag or something!" I growled.
"How the heck do I go zig-zag!?" he hollered.
"Well, I DON'T KNOW! YOU'RE THE DRIVER!" I screamed.
"Hang on then!" he shouted toward us.
Kallen and I hold onto the gas cans so that it won't fall over. Adrian drifted the car on the corner, almost hit the car on the particular abandoned building, then accelerated the truck tenfold. One of the high-speed running humanoid was tricked and crashed itself toward the abandoned building at high velocity.
"One down! I repeat one down!" Kallen spoke as he aimed the humanoid's head carefully.
There's three left, we need to obliterate them as soon as we can and get back to the gas station. That's when suddenly a brilliant idea popped into my mind.
"Let's use the gas can, throw it toward them then shoot" I exclaimed. "They will go KABOOM".
"Big sis, since when did you talk weirdly? Kaboom?" Kallen stared at me with a judgemental stare.
"Hey! This is not the time for that! I don't know whether this will work but we have to try!" I blushed as I remembered that 'Kaboom' part. Kallen prepared himself to throw two of the gas cans, he looked at them sadly.
"They're the gas cans for our trucks, I feel sad wasting them," Kallen said melancholically.
"Well, don't be," I sighed. "This is for our survival, we can pick up the remaining gas cans at the gas station anyway".
"I guess you're right", Kallen nodded sadly.
He asked me to shoot at the right time he throws them.
"Big sis Aria, aim steadily" Kallen reminded me.
I nodded silently toward his reminder, I focused my aim on the humanoids. However, my hand trembled with anxiety.
"What if I failed? What if we can't lose them" my mind was engulfed with so many negative thoughts. My knee trembles, hands trembles uncontrollably, my index finger who already prepared itself on the trigger is now drenched in sweats.
That's when a mysterious voice rings in my head as if to remind me of something I have forgotten. I could see the boy in white shadows behind me. He held onto my hands to keep my trembling hands steady.
"Just aim and shoot, just like how you always do" the mysterious white boy whispered next to my ear.
Kallen throws both gas cans simultaneously toward the humanoids.
"BIG SIS ARIA! NOW!" he screamed.
"Aria, shoot" the voice whispered alluringly next to my ear.
My hand is steady and for some reason, I immediately press the trigger without any hesitation. The bullet flew off to the gas cans and exploded in the middle of the humanoids. The explosion was so big, there were several flying drones flying toward the vicinity.
"Adrian! Drive! The drones started to swarm the explosion!" Kallen spoke.
"Dude, I only have two hands and two legs! JUST BE PATIENCE DAMMIT!" Adrian yelled at Kallen frustrated.
I fell on my bottom, sweaty and exhausted mentally. I laid myself on my back, covered my eyes. It is another vision, about the mysterious white boy. Adrian drives as fast as he could, we're going back to the gas stations to pick up the remaining gas cans.
We haven't encountered any drones or those humanoids, the timing is too perfect. It was as if they were carefully placed in our way. Is this the perpetrator mind games? That game master in a mask? Fatigue is slowly seeping my energy, I need to sleep.
"Kallen, can you please take over the watch? I'm kind of tired" I smiled toward the young teenager.
"It's alright big sis, you did well" Kallen nodded affirmatively.
Finally, I could sleep peacefully for the first time.
* * *
"Big sis Aria!" Kallen's voice woke me up from my slumber. I wiped my teary eyes and yawned, I suppose we're already at the gas station.
"Oh, sorry! You could have woke me up!" I spoke concerned.
"No need, Adrian, and I already picked up the remaining gas" Kallen reassured me. "It's just that we haven't found any sign of Jean".
I immediately get off the truck and walk toward the distraught Adrian. He seems disappointed and bitter at the same time.
"Adrian, no one is around here?" I asked the man.
"Well, we just checked the gas station premises and no one around" Adrian gritted his teeth. "I just don't know what to do Aria, is Jean gone forever?".
Adrian grieved, he soon kneeled on the ground with a guilty face.
"We shouldn't have left him!" Adrian shot me a death glare. He's clearly angry and upset.
"Then what!? You want to be dead!? While waiting for Jean's return!?" I scowled at the pathetic man in front of me.
"You're a monster! Heartless! How dare you leave Jean behind!" Adrian stand up and grab the collar of my clothes. "This wouldn't happen if you didn't leave him!" Adrian glared at me antagonistically. His grips on my collar tightened, and his fury clearly showed on his angered expression.
I clenched my fist as I grabbed Adrian's hand that gripped on my collar.
"Well then! Go ahead and die!" I scowled disdainfully.
"Guys! Knock it out!" Kallen intervened between us. The teenager tried to separate us from punching each other's guts.
"This is not helping! We already have the gas cans! Now that Aria is awake, we need to search for Jean before it's dark!" Kallen snapped us out from our bickering.
Kallen is right, fighting only prolongs our chances to find Jean.
"We should split up, one of us should search near the truck" I exhaled. "We wouldn't want any scavenger or some dirty old coot stealing our supplies, right?".
"I can keep a watch while searching for Jean" Adrian volunteered.
He no longer raises his tone, he's still upset but not as upset as before. Kallen's words reached him out, I suppose, calming his nerves.
"Just so you know, I'm still mad at you" Adrian snarled at me.
"Whatever you say," I replied in an ignorant tone.
I searched in this mini-market across the gas station, while Kallen explored the furthest one. He claimed that he's agile and fast, thus he would like to explore the farthest area from here. I just hope that we could find Jean before night.
* * *
Two hours had passed, and Jean was nowhere to be found anywhere near the gas station. I returned to the car exhausted both mentally and physically from the search. The clock is ticking, Adrian reminded me that it's already 5 pm.
"The sky darkens a bit" I looked at the sky.
"And still no Jean" Adrian scoffed at me.
Yes, he still hates my guts because I left Jean alone here. However, not long after our unfriendly banter, I saw Kallen from a distance. Kallen waved toward me happily, behind him is our missing teammates Jean.
"Jean!" Adrian's face brightened up as he saw Jean's arrival.
They ran toward us, Jean sighed at us tiredly.
"Sorry about that, I was hiding from the humanoids when they chased you guys" Jean spoke apologetically. "I couldn't bring myself to help you guys, I'm sorry".
Jean lowered his head shamefully, perhaps because he resorted to hiding when the humanoids attacked us. Which indicates his cowardice in facing these drones and humanoids. I was about to scold him, but Kallen barged in.
"It's alright Jean, everyone is like that when they're scared" Kallen smiled. "Right, big sis Aria?".
Kallen's eyes were on me, he expected me to say something meaningful or encouraging I suppose.
"Well, there's no helping it" I tried to compliment the man who abandoned us. "I'm sure as heck Adrian will do the same thing as you are if he's scared".
There goes my compliment, I'm being sarcastic to both of them. I could only facepalm myself. Why is it so hard to compliment someone, Aria? I have no idea. My statement makes Adrian's bright face gone in an instant.
"I'm sorry Aria" the pallor man apologized.
Did the man apologize to me? Am I dreaming? That stubborn goofy Adrian just apologized to me. What a lifetime experience, very delectable. So far I know, he never apologized to me when we had a fight during our University time. We're now going back to the settlement, and everyone is still alive and well.